Well here goes.. my first picture thread C+C

[tdiprincess]

Hi all.. I'm a brand new noob here... These were taken from my P&S at varying times.. These are my favorites, nothing great by any means..
Here are a couple from our trip to Allegheny State Park in 12/09:
#1- I like shots like this, so you'll prolly see a few from me.. Please any tips!

#2 and 3: A couple shots of the mountain and lake there..

#4 This was a quick idea I had, I will probably play with it next time we visit Allegheny.. It's on a little look out tower...

This next few is from Robert Treman State Park, July 09:
#1+2 The waterfall..

#3 There were quite a few of these vast root systems..

#4 The serene picture..

#5 A huge wall!

#6 and 7, I found this tree growing out of the side of a cliff wall...

And some from New York City....January 2010
#1+2

#3 and 4.. This was a little playground thing at Central Park

#5 a Statue in Central Park

#6+7 A view from the park

#8 A cool building shot...

I'm sorry that there's so many.. These are just my personal favorites, there's no technique applied in these whatsoever.. But Allegheny and Robert Treman I will be going back to and would like a bit of ideas.. and even for future picture taking..Thanks!

 

[IgsEMT]

overall not a bad composition. some images are better then others. I'd recomend spending sometime PP them
good luck

 

[matfoster]

#8 is an interesting composition of the buildings - a good, handheld effort :thumbup:. i like also the first 3 nature scenes...the atmosphere and the scenery - very nice.

 

[Big Mike]

Way too many photos for one thread, especially if you want C&C.

 

[tdiprincess]

Thank you.. I'm sorry I posted so many.. I just didn't want to post 3 threads.... In the future I will keep that in mind. I guess too it was a bit of an introduction.. kind of a "this is me and my pictures so far"

I am going to be getting ps soon and will start fiddling with it then..
I guess I'd like a little feedback on where I need to improve as far as technique and lighting?

 

[DennyCrane]

I took a look at your 3rd picture. I think it had a lot of potential that some more practice and experience will bring out. First issue is composition. The horizon is tilted. That can be fixed later, but it's better to try and get it level when you take the shot. The second is the color temperature of the shot. That's why it's all gray. Again, can be fixed later, but better to do right when you're taking the shots. I added a little sharpening, too.

Original:

Edited:

Keep practicing, and welcome to the forums!

 

[Hooker771]

Sharpening made it look grainy. And what are those smudges on the photos?

#2 and 3 have smudges at the bottom. What is that
4 tilted
5 overblown
7 is way out of focus
9 is my favorite but its tilted.... isnt it?
11 out of focus
12-13 are neat. What are you looking up through. very neat.
16 could benefit from a polarizing filter
17-18 ehh
19 like too but a filter may leave the sky less blown out.

 

[DennyCrane]

I'm presuming snow on the lens... The poster has said they are getting a new DSLR, and hopefully, that'll eliminate the graininess issue.

 

[tdiprincess]

yes, snow on the lens would be the culprit..
Now I see the importance of PS... Thank you Denny for playing around with the picture, I like the changes!

hooker: I like your input, quick and easy to understand what I did wrong.. or could do better.. Seeing as a couple people now have brought out tilting issues, I need to start working on that. The Allegheny ones I was moving a bit fast for my taste, but it was about 10degrees and DH was rushing.. #4 was a quick idea that I had but didn't have time to check tilt or anything. Maybe I'll fiddle with it more..
#9 was a bit tilted I think also, but I was also standing in the water to get that shot.. Again, I think if I'd taken the time to notice it I would've gotten a better shot!
12+13 were shot looking through this:

I had remembered a field trip in 4th grade to a really neat cemetery, Forest Lawn, on architecture. There was the same kind of set up, it looked amazing and apparently it stuck.. I'll have to get a shot of that..It makes the sky, and whatever is in the sky look really neat
#17, 18.. yeah, we were on a carriage ride in central park. I need to go back through and pick better ones.. or go back to central park and hoof it, the whole time I was in the carriage I kept picking out spots that could make for some AMAZING shots!...

Basically, I think I need to slow down a bit and take my time on shots. The NYC ones were probably the fastest paced. I was walking with 3 guys who aren't really into photography and had to keep and I have short legs!

 

[myfotoguy]

Hello,

Some good points have been made, so I'll just add a couple thoughts.


In some of the images where part of it is overexposed, and other parts are not, a couple things come to mind. But first, I like a lot of the shots in the woods and the water. I'm just guessing the lighting and camera meter were working against you:

• Maybe look for other similar angles in the area where the light is more evenly lighting the scene. This will help the camera meter choose better for proper exposure. I know that's not always possible, but when it is, if you can avoid extreme differences of shade and bright light in the same scene your image will look better. To some extent you can do some adjusting for this in post processing (editing)
• If you haven't already, check out the exposure compensation mode on your camera, and do some tests in various situations to correct when the camera is guessing wrong on exposure.
• There could be more to say about exposure and light, but that's a couple things to think about anyway.

Some of the shots it looks like the camera chose the incorrect WB. Auto doesn't always choose right, you could experiment with setting these things yourself.


This camera looks like it tends to adjust WB on the blue side of the spectrum. Try setting WB to daylight or open shade instead of auto and see if there is improvement in the color balance. For reference, open shade will warm up the image and move it away from the blueish tint.


The winter photos are good composition wise (some tilting was already mentiond, as well as white balance). Sometimes you need to switch to the "snow" scene mode or use exposure compensation. I recently started a tips blog and one of the first articles was on taking pictures in the snow, if you're interested...Taking Pictures in the Snow.

 

[tdiprincess]

Thank you very much for that myfoto! Your article is awesome and will prove very useful. I just got my DSLR in the mail yesterday, and have just started reading the manual, but this will definitely keep me reading! Thanks

 

[bigtwinky]

The photos are all over the place. As you said, no technique was applied, you were just shooting and moving.

Some of them are too under exposed (ex 4)
Some of them have such a varying degree of exposure where the sky is blown out and the shadows are too dark (ex 5)
Some of them are just blurry (ex 3 and 7)
Pretty much all of them are badly composed, which ranges from being too centered, too much dead space around the subject, bits and parts cut off, tilted horizons...

I think the only one I think I actually somewhat kinda like is the last one for its play on lines and such in the frame, although it has some bad exposure issues.

As for tips, well, you have room for improvement
I'd suggest taking the time to read up on the basics of photography and composition. Looking at other's work to see what inspires you and try and understand what they intended to do with their image.

 

[bigtwinky]

Thank you very much for that myfoto! Your article is awesome and will prove very useful. I just got my DSLR in the mail yesterday, and have just started reading the manual, but this will definitely keep me reading! Thanks

While the manual is good for technical stuff, you need to also read on photography.

One of the best books out there IMO is Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson.

 

[Ron Evers]

As an aid to keeping horizons level & verticals plumb I keep the grid-lines on all the time in my viewfinder. You may find them helpful as well.

 

[myfotoguy]

Thank you very much for that myfoto! Your article is awesome and will prove very useful. I just got my DSLR in the mail yesterday, and have just started reading the manual, but this will definitely keep me reading! Thanks

Awesome, what did you get? (sorry if you said that somewhere and I missed it).

I seond the Bryan Peterson "Understanding Exposure". He also has one called "Learning To See Creatively" which is pretty good as well. I also recommend "The Photographer's Eye" by Michael Freeman, which is excellent.